Bringing Nature Home, by Douglas Tallamy
This is a wonderful guide to the overall philosophy of gardening for nature, but also contains lots of practical information about choosing trees and plants, as well as a large section about the insects you are trying to attract. This book is very well written and includes many color pictures and helpful appendices. Highly recommended!

The Truth about Garden Remedies, What Works, What Doesn't, and Why, by Jeff Gilman
This is a great book that takes a scientific approach to testing many of the crazy "traditional" and "natural" gardening practices that people swear by. A great read, and a must for people interested in organic gardening.

Caterpillars in the Field and Garden, by Allen, Brock, and Glassberg
This is the best book we've found for identifying caterpillars. It's primary focus is butterfly caterpillars, but it also has a section on the most common moth caterpillars you are likely to find. A great way to identify those beautiful wigglies you find in your yard!

Butterflies of Michigan, by Jaret C. Daniels
This book has a distinct advantage over other butterfly field guides because it is limited just to the butterflies you are likely to find in our region. It is much easier to correctly identify your butterfly when the books already eliminates similar looking butterflies that do not occur in our neck of the woods. An absolute must for butterfly identification in Ann Arbor.

Milkweed, Monarchs, and More, by Rea, Overhauser, and Quinn
This is a great little book. Although is is quite small, it is jam-packed with lots of pictures of all of the wonderful bugs you are likely to see when you start a milkweed garden. Want to know what that incredible nickel sized red and black beetle is doing on your swamp milkweed? Want to identify those crazy tufted tiger colored caterpillars? Want to know what that nifty black critter with the elephant nose is up to? Then this book is for you!

The Life Cycles of Butterflies: From Egg to Maturity, a Visual Guide to 23 Common Garden Butterflies, by Burris and Richards
This lovely has received a Teacher's Choice award from Learning Magazine. It contains beautiful color pictures of 23 garden butterflies, their caterpillars, their pupal cases, and most unusually, their eggs. Although it is packed with information like a field guide, it is a beautiful "coffee table" style book. Outstanding!